Generally, a probe card is a device configured to transmit an electric signal of a semiconductor device tester to a chip as a target object to be tested on a wafer and transmit a signal from the chip to the semiconductor device tester by electrically connecting the wafer to the semiconductor device tester in order to test performance of a semiconductor device such as a semiconductor memory, a display, or the like during or after a manufacturing process.
A typical probe card is composed of a printed circuit board (PCB), a space transformer (STF), tips fixed on the space transformer, and an interposer configured to connect the printed circuit board to the space transformer. The space transformer is formed of a multilayer ceramic (MLC) substrate.
That is, in the space transformer, ceramic layers and metallic layers are layered alternately, an interval between the adjacent metallic layers becomes narrow from an upper substrate connected to the printed circuit board toward a lower side connected to the tips, and a pitch can be transformed.
However, such a space transformer is manufactured from a multilayer ceramic substrate, which requires a long manufacturing period and high manufacturing costs.
In particular, a space transformer is an expensive product, and its cost accounts for a considerable part of manufacturing costs of a probe card. As a probe card becomes large-scaled, a space transformer also becomes large-scaled, resulting in an increase in manufacturing costs of the probe card.